Dance is delightful. It’s also rich with complex, potentially-painful issues.

I look forward to sharing thoughts and links to resources on race, gender and other issues. Here’s a brief introduction:

Cultural Appropriation:

Some dance styles were formalized by teachers attempting to honour and/or profit-from dances they discovered while travelling. Some left much lost in translation, resulting in poor imitations. In some cases the people who created the original dance feel the dance is no longer available to them. (How can we be appropriately critical while growing the spirit of connection – the spirit of dance?)

In some cases / to some degree, the differences are not so much due to poor imitation as to divergent developments since it was studied and copied. Both the source and new dances can have their own evolution. Even allowing for that, in many cases the copies are poor imitations. That doesn’t begin to address the question of whether it’s okay to copy another culture’s dances.

Perhaps worse is that the imitators used or misused the name of the dance. For example, ballroom rumba looks nothing like most Cuban rumba. More detail on these things at the bottom of this page.

Gender Roles:

Most partner dances have two roles, lead and follow, traditionally set according to gender. Can you be a follower without violating your values? Some dancers love dancing both roles. (Why? Because both are so much fun, in their own way!) We’ll also look at dances where people switch between roles mid-song, and dances where both people are simultaneously leading and following. (I love all these variations. Each is fun, so if you have the opportunity, learn them all – have more fun!)

Can people of the same sex dance together? Absolutely! Besides the rights of people to love whomever they love, dance is not only about romance. People can dance together like a sport or like a conversation. Many (I’d guess most) heterosexual pro dancers love dancing with other people of the same sex – for study (feeling the other’s technique) and/or for fun.

Indigenous / First Nations dances:

For my series Around the World in 80 Days, I wrote to a local First Nations group, saying I’m aware that many or most or perhaps all of their dances are sacred and not to be shared with people who don’t have First Nations ancestry, and yet I didn’t think it would be right to offer a series of dances from around the world and exclude indigenous people’s dances, so I wondered if they knew anyone who might want to teach one or more of their dances – either as part of this series or separately. (I have been to events elsewhere where an indigenous person taught some of their dances to people without that ancestry – in a way which seemed honorable to me.) The group replied that their dances are not to be shared. Later they revised that, suggesting that I come to Powwows and “get up and dance when invited into the circle – that is for intertribal dances and perhaps round dances. Come be present in community and let your presence be seen and felt by Indigenous Community members. That feeling of sharing and being present cannot be adequately shared or mimicked anywhere else but where it is meant to be. All are welcome at Powwow.” I look forward to doing so. At this point at least I won’t include this as part of the Around the World series – not for everyone – but if anyone does want to join me in attending a Powwow, let me know, and I’ll check back with the First Nations group.

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More about Anti-Colonial Dance Teaching:

Ballroom tango is very different from Argentine tango. Ballroom rumba is nothing like 95% of Cuban rumba. Ballroom samba is quite different from Brazilian samba. Ballroom swing (“jive”) is very different from lindy hop (the original swing dance). Ballroom merengue – or at least some manifestations of it – can be ridiculous if it retains some of the moves but dances them with a serious attitude – a ballroom attitude you could say – and the result appears oblivious to most of what can make merengue great. To some extent the differences are because the original dance has continued to evolve and the ballroom version somewhat replicates how it was danced a long time ago. More often it seems the ballroom people just were only able or willing to see the other dances at a shallow level that could fit within what their students could already almost do. Sometimes the ballroom version has its own evolution taking it further astray. In any case, I try to steer people to be aware of the differences and to honor the originals – while understanding that the originals also evolve.
We also host dances where people roll on the ground, lie on the ground, use our hands and forearms and shins and bums on the ground – where we are inspired by other animals to explore what other ways we might move besides being on our feet.
Some classes also work to ‘deconstruct’ the presumptions in our perceptions and language. Where do “I” end? Are there shortcomings in the word “environment”? “Supernatural”?

Colonialism is related to communism as much as to capitalism, but since colonialism and capitalism are related, I’ll add: My aim is the opposite of capitalist exploitation. My aim as a dance teacher is to be not needed. Lindy hop for example wasn’t taught to the original lindy hop dancers – they created it by being spontaneous (built upon a foundation). A teacher can help people take starting steps, and can help people go beyond what they know, but the aim (in my mind) is for people to grow freedom / fun / their openness for being inspired – being a channel for spirit.

In Orangeville I contacted various leaders of the black community asking if they knew anyone who taught lindy hop or hip hop or African or Caribbean dances. None did. I’m bringing in guest teachers from Toronto. Wherever I’m teaching, I hope my classes are gateways, introducing and inspiring people to study more with people with ancestral roots in the cultures that birthed the dances.

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Resources:

It would be wrong for me to try to be the voice on issues like those above – and yet it would also be wrong for me to only send people to resources elsewhere – to just “pass the buck” without doing the work to voice how these issues are important to me. So I have done that above.

I look forward to soon sharing more links to great resources. Here’s a start:

DOCUMENTARY

The Skin We’re In (44 min)

Description: Urgent, controversial, and undeniably honest, The Skin We’re In is a wake-up call to complacent Canadians. Racism is here. It is everywhere. It is us and we are it. Following celebrated journalist Desmond Cole as he researches his hotly anticipated book, this documentary from acclaimed director Charles Officer pulls back the curtain on racism in Canada.

The book that followed the film: The Skin We’re In by Desmond Cole

Watch an online talk with Desmond Cole on The Skin We’re In